Beacon
What is Beacon? That's difficult to say. There have been many versions and interpretations of Beacon, sometimes at the same time, and there will likely be many more.This page describes one version of Beacon; but you shouldn't be surprised if you run into something a little different. It's a big multiverse out there, after all. Beacon Basics All versions and iterations of Beacon have a few things in common. The first is the Beaconchuu, a race of beings that founded Beacon for their own mysterious purposes. The moniker is actually a nickname; they don't give a name for themselves, and they're clearly not Puchuu since they don't recruit magical girls directly. But they appear to girls as small fluffy animals and they're just as mysterious as the average Puchuu, so the name kind of stuck. The second is the organization's purpose. Beacon always positions itself as a force of Good, and usually has the following goals: * Protecting those who cannot protect themselves * Using their powers to help those who do not have them * Fighting the Corruption in the name of Good The last of these is usually what gets the most attention. One of the core tenets of Beacon is that the powers of magical girls are naturally good. The obvious corollary is that anything that perverts those powers and uses them for evil is, literally, a "corruption" of the magical girl's basic nature. The actual nature of this corruption can vary; sometimes it's a kind of living force that seeks to spread itself, and sometimes it's just an inherent part of being human. Either way, Beacon is dedicated to fighting it, protecting those who are vulnerable to its influence, and Purifying those who have already fallen...or, sometimes, just eliminating them. Beacon also tends to be closely linked to Sanctification. Not all Beacons are Sanctified, but the majority of the influential ones usually are. Put another way: the kind of girls who are attracted to Beacon tend to be those who will accept Sanctification at some point in their careers. Modern Beacon The Beacon described here is one version. There have been many before it, and there will be many after it. This one, however, is of some particular significance. Beacon used to take a much more centralized, top-down approach to organization, almost military in nature. But, after a significant Incident almost destroyed them at the core, the Beaconchuu descended and decreed a new structure for the organization. Modern Beacon is a highly-distributed organization of mostly-independent "Outposts", which are loosely connected by their shared values - protection, salvation, and purification. Outposts are spread across the Mortal Realms, and each one is governed by a "Head", which is something like a general, president or CEO. Although there is a central authority that Outpost Heads report to, for the most part they have independent authority over their Outposts, and the choice of Head can have a dramatic impact on the Outpost's philosophical outlook and approach to carrying out Beacon's objectives. This setup means that Outposts are very individual entities that can vary wildly in their internal organization and priorities. Pragmatically, it also makes Beacon highly resistant to failure: if any one Outpost fails, even Central Beacon, the rest can continue operating with little or no issue. There are many rumors about why the Beaconchuu chose this style of organization, but those in the know aren't sharing. Central Beacon Central Beacon, formerly Beacon Headquarters, is the hub that links all of the Outposts. Central Beacon runs services that are common to all Outposts, like the Beacon Portal Network, and also acts as a central authority of sorts, approving new Outposts, appointing new Heads, and "excommunicating" those that stray too far from Beacon's objectives. As a general rule though Central takes a very hands-off approach to administration, leaving the majority of the work to the Heads. Central Beacon has its own internal hierarchy. At the top are the Beaconchuu. Though the Beaconchuu technically have executive authority over all of Beacon, they only appear rarely, usually during times of great crisis. Thus, although they're a "good" entity, actually seeing one is usually considered a sign of bad luck. Even if they're there to give you the White Coin, they'll usually only do so if they think you really need it (and therefore won't say no...) The actual day-to-day administration of Central Beacon is done by the Circle of Twelve, a group of twelve old and powerful magical girls that have executive authority over Beacon unless overruled by the Beaconchuu. Six are elected by the Outpost Heads, and six are nominated directly by the Beaconchuu. Aside from daily administration, the Twelve are responsible for approving new Outposts and electing new Outpost Heads (and, when necessary, dismissing them). Any motion by the Twelve must receive a majority vote to pass - a 50/50 split re-tables the motion for discussion. Any decision by the Twelve can also be vetoed by a majority vote from the Outpost Heads, but getting them all together is a pain so this is only done very rarely. Unavoidably, there's a lot of complex politicking and general squabbling around the Twelve and how they administer Beacon. But, in general, despite their squabbling they get things done when they need to be done. Notable Outposts * Prisma Lantern * Echoes